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Sunday, February 22, 2015

Hattie is four years old, we think. She has had more than one litter, with the most recent litter at the end of last year. She and the puppies were put into a shelter, and the puppies were all “rescued”, and now Hattie is rescued. Just like Skruffy, Hattie has heart worms too.Now, as Paul Harvey use to say, this is the “rest of the story”.

We went over to the Orlando area, fighting the bitter 30+ degree night time temps, to visit Marcia’s brother Dean and his wife Caryl. We took Skruffy and Bubba with us, and although there was some “are we going to get along” moments with Hattie, everything worked out.

You see, Dean and Caryl found Hattie in a shelter in late December…and it was LOVE at first sight….and Hattie is Dean and Caryl’s dog, not ours. The NEWEST member of the family is a COUSIN!

After our first attempt failed, we finally got both dogs inside the house with Hattie and everyone got along just fine …. although there was a lot of stares (and sniffing).

Skruffy kept a closer eye on Hattie than Bubba did….

….this is the only picture I could get of Bubba with his eyes open!

Skruffy’s size probably had a lot to do with it….Hattie is not a large dog, but she is much larger than Skruffy. Hattie is, from what they have been told, part Beagle and part Corgi. Her heart worm treatments will be over soon, and in a month after her last shot they can let her “be a real dog”…until then she is on low excitement – low exertion for now.

Hattie is a wonderful dog. Her eyes can look so sad at times, her fur is soft (the patch missing on her side in this photo is for the treatment she is getting for heart worms), and she is as friendly as can be. Welcome to the family Hattie!

By-the-way, the flowers did open by Valentines Day, and my lovely wife was as happy as could be.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

For you travelers who have lost track of “the days”, and it does happen, flowers and candy is not because I did something wrong, it is because Saturday is Valentines Day. After hearing the 1800-FLOWERS commercials last week, especially the ones that advertised getting TWO dozen for the price of ONE if you order by Tuesday (which was February 3rd), so I decided to skip the local florist and give them a try. Did it all through the Internet, did not talk to a sole. Picked delivery for Thursday so that on Saturday the buds will be fully blooming, and she will be able to enjoy them ALL DAY LONG instead of from when they were delivered on.

The day after my order was placed I received the UPS tracking number, and then last night it showed the order was processed and they had departed Hialeah, Florida, which is north of Miami, and the flower industry is very large down in that area. Before I went to bed I saw they had made there way to Orlando, and in the morning I saw they were out for delivery. And yes, they did not come until 6:25 pm, as I was making Stir Fry for dinner. However, I was impressed in the container they were shipped in, very secure…I had a vase included, and they threw in the chocolates due to the early delivery. (All I knew was that there would be something special…very glad it was chocolate! )

Tomorrow we are going to “beat the crowds” and go to Mama Maria’s for a very early dinner, and then on Valentines Day I am going to broil up some New York steaks, she is going to cook some shrimp and veggies, and we will enjoy Valentines Day to ourselves.

Well…. almost by ourselves.

In the background of the very first picture above you can see the top of this chair, and it reminded me that I never did talk about or show Marcia’s Christmas present, the Zyllion ZMA-14-BK Shiatsu Massage Cushion with Heat. She said that it is wonderful to use, but it is something that one would not want to constantly sit on, so it is on a second chair next to where she sits and since both chairs are on wheels, it is easy to change in and out of when she uses it. We got it through Amazon, and here are the advertised features:

4 Adjustable Moving Shiatsu Massage Nodes for the Neck Area with soothing Heating Function that can be turned on and off separately.

Monday, February 9, 2015

When we bought our La-Z-Boy recliners late last summer, we found out that the floor under the old couch was a bit spongy. Since then, when ever we “use” the slider, we pull the chairs out so that they sit more on the main floor of the RV and not on the slide area. Called Kerry McColloch at McColloch’s RV repair and storage in Sacramento and lined up the “big repair” for when we are there in late April/early May. He wanted some pictures, so I went over to the storage area Saturday and got measurements and pictures so that he has an idea of it. When we get to Sacramento, we will take it by his place soon after we get there, let him get all the particulars and line up an actual date to have the repairs, which will take three days or so to be completed. That “should” have us ready for Alaska.

The view from down under shows a slight separation along he side.

But the spongy area is right in the middle within the white circle and extending to the left. All around the edges seem to be real solid, which is a good sign. It will be bad bad bad if there is rot within the walls.

Last Thursday we decided to finally try the New England's Ale House Grille, formerly the “Olde School House” on Alt 19 highway near Alderman in Palm Harbor.

Other than being a bit loud, there was a large group of ladies sitting where this picture was taken, and we were in the first table along the left side past the bar, we really enjoyed it. Marcia had hoped that they would have more fish, especially fish not deep fried, but they did have a special that night of seared tuna, which along with a bowl of stew, was enough for her. I had a large bowl of Clam Chowder to go along with the large Nacho plate we had as an appetizer.

I think next time we will try the outside seating….then Skruffy can sit along side of us too instead of waiting in the car. (I know, a service dog is allowed inside Restaurants, but we choose not to take her inside unless it is just too hot outside.)

After dinner we went over to Crystal Beach to view another Florida Sunset. Yes, Marcia took this picture of my “best side” as I was looking for an opportunity to get a picture of some of the birds flying around.

I think she got my backside because she knew the best picture that I could get of a Pelican was of its backside when it took off from the water.

Not that I didn’t try…but the sun was facing me, and that makes it hard on taking pictures of flying objects.

There were a few birds, other than the many seagulls, which did pose for me though.

As I took a walk out on the pier, Marcia and Skruffy stayed back in the car.

Using separate cameras, we both seemed to get the same shot at the same time. Mine, with new camera, on the left, hers, with old camera, on the right. I like hers better than mine, that palm branch gives it some character.

And when she framed the picture with the tree and bush on each side, well….can’t beat that one.

Although this one comes close…..

I do have to admit that there are some nice beach-side properties around here. But I like having a home on wheels where our view can change whenever, wherever we wish to take it.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

We got about an inch of rain Sunday night – Monday morning. After I drove over to the motorhome to finish up the door fix (story below), I saw some blue skies to the north and decided to head back over to Robert K Rees Memorial Park where at first I was alone….but that did not last even long enough for me to finish up my Raspberry Ice Tea I got when I filled up with gas ($1.99, up 10 cents from a week ago).

Last week when we both were here, we did not walk the boardwalk to the north side of the small peninsula that the park is on. Today, without the crowd, I decided to take the short walk, no more than two tenths each way, through a bunch of Mangroves.

Well, that’s the view from the north side…oh well, it was still a nice walk.

On the way home I see this Osprey nest, and normally where there is a nest, there will be an Osprey near by….you can see it I the upper part of the dead tree to the left of the nest.

Unfortunately I did not have the newer camera in the car, it zooms in much more, but this is still a pretty good shot.

I had mentioned before that I had a few minor repairs to compete. Today I installed the new acrylic glass sliding window in the door. I have broken two different sliding glass windows, and each time I replaced it with an acrylic window. Don’t know how I do it….has something with letting the dogs out on a leash from the door and when they come back in I pull on the inner door handle which, if the sliding window is not fully open, can, and does shatter the window. As you can see in the lower picture above I also installed a bar to go across the door, something I picked up at Camping World. This will make it easier for Marcia to close (it was her request) and it will help me to not break the acrylic window.

Ok, I know some of you are just getting this far into the blog because you wanted to see the Skruffy video. I have been working with her on being more “patient” when she gets her morning and evening treat. I got this short video of her on Monday. Essentially I hold a small portion of a Beggin Strip in my hand, and then I toss it to the floor. She will watch for it, and then normally wait for my “go get it” before she takes off. Got this video in one take.